Basle, Basle black sheep - tables turn on the big manufacturers

By Steve Orme on Mar 4, 09 12:51 PM

Although you would think the world of car making had gone totally cuckoo, the Geneva motor show opened its doors yesterday with most of the usual suspects offering a free lunch.

This is in sharp contrast to January's Detroit show which resembled the billiard room and bar at the FBI's Guantanamo Bay Hilton.
Smaller stands, notably at General Motors' European subsidiary Opel, showed signs of the times but Alfa Romeo hostesses were as classy as ever and it was much easier to move around with fewer companies bringing journalists as guests.
So business almost as usual there but with one or two stark messages. Opel will run out of money next month and for one or two other manufacturers the prospect of not having to worry about greasy paw prints on the Turtlewax or eight-year-old 'car dealers' running amock collecting brochures and carrier bags for smo0ke years to comeis very real.
Funny thug, Kia and Hyundai, both marques that once earned your ridicule in te saloon b ar and got your kidsbulied are doing just fin. As is VW, Skoda included.
Who wants a Ford or Vauxhall now?
As Joe Greenwell, president of the SMMT said: "The industry finds itself in a dark place and in a crisis not of its making. It needs help." But while Greenwell stops short of saying the UK government is dragging its heels he said: "But we need help yesterday."